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4th "Chase" day - June 2, 2014

Monday, June 2, 2014

Current time: 11:00pm CDT (Tuesday)

Log:

Location - Hays,
Kansas

The highest chance
for storms today looks to be in Southeast Kansas so we will be heading towards
Salina. The CAPE is pretty decent, in the 2000s and shear is also decent, but
there are no lifting mechanisms. If the out flow boundary can provide some
lift, then we can see some storms, but otherwise today will be a bit of a dud.

13:00z (8:00am CDT)
- Forecast discussion confirms that the chance for storms is not great so we
will be doing laundry this morning and then heading to Newton, Kansas. This
position would put us south of the boundary and south of any storms that would
form from that boundary.

13:30z (8:30am CDT)
– We leave the hotel, heading south on 183 to the Laundry mat.

Approx 14:30z
(9:30am) – We leave the laundry mat and head west on I- 70 for Salina, Kansas.

16:30z (11:30am)-
We turn onto I-135 for Salina, Kansas and eat lunch at Carlos O’Kellys in
Centennial Mall in Salina.

Approx 18:30z
(1:30pm)- We leave Centennial Mall south on I – 135 for Newton, Kansas.

Approx 19:30z
(2:30pm) – We arrive in Centennial Park in Newton, Kansas to observe the
weather.

Approx 21:30z
(4:30pm) – After spending some time in the park, we leave Newton, KS since no
storms had developed on the boundary (or anywhere) at this point and head North
east on route 50 for Topeka, Kanas which is our stop for the night.

22:45z (5:45pm) –
We turn north onto the Kansas Turnpike.

Approx 23:30z
(6:30pm) - We arrive at the Sleep Inn in Topeka, Kansas for the night.

Approx 23:45z
(6:45pm) – A few of us go to the local Walmart to get some extra things.

Approx 00:30z
(7:30pm) – We play card games in the breakfast room at our Sleep Inn while
waiting for Ryann’s parents to stop by.

Today
was not much of a chase day and more of a day off. While it was disappointing
that no storms did pop up, the weather forecasted for tomorrow looks insane so
that is something to look forward to. We got laundry out of the way, which was
definitely a necessity to do eventually, so better today than during an active
day. While over packing was a pain when it came to carrying luggage up stairs
in hotels without elevators in the building or ramps at their front entrances,
it was nice to not have to do laundry and just relax on a bench and make use of
some free Wi-Fi. After the laundry mat we ate lunch at a corporate Mexican
restaurant popular in the Midwest. The food was pretty decent, I don’t quite
understand the O’Kelly’s part of it, but they did serve mashed potatoes with my
food so I guess that’s the Irish part? Either way, afterwards we go to a park
in Newton to arrive for storms. The radar looks completely clear so most of us
play some Frisbee/ Volleyball/ “golf clap” at people playing Frisbee golf in
the distance and enjoy the beautiful weather hoping for the cumulous clouds to
start gaining some height. The fair weather cumulous clouds remained just that
and with nothing on the radar at all except for a very small cell far south
which didn’t look impressive, we call it a day and head to our beautiful hotel
in Topeka, Kansas. I’m not from New Jersey, but after spending 2 years going to
school at Rutgers, I have a pretty good idea of what it looks like and I must
say, Topeka could easily pass for a town in central Jersey (insert debate about
the existence of central Jersey). I have never stayed at a Sleep Inn, but it
appears to be a great chain of hotels since the rooms had big ceilings,
everything was clean, and the breakfast was pretty good (especially the
muffins). One of the better free breakfasts I’ve had. For dinner instead of
going out to eat, Ryann’s dad was nice enough to come all the way from Kansas
City to give all 14 of us food. While she was worried that there wouldn’t be
enough Oklahoma Joe’s for everyone, there was plenty left and it was all really
tasty. I tried brisket for the first time and it was great. All in all, a great day although not much
weather to talk about. Until tomorrow!

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About Me

Hi my name is Alex and I love everything about tropical climates including the weather and the plants. During my free time I'm either making my temperate NYC yard look tropical or watching for the next storm.
I hope you enjoy my blogs!